Press Briefing The Camp David Peace Talks

U.S. Department of State Richard Boucher, Department of
State Spokesman Press Briefing, The Camp David Peace Talks
Thurmont Elementary School Thurmont, Maryland, July 23,
2000

11:20 A.M. EDT

Mr. Boucher: I'm happy to be back
here. I'm glad to give you an update of where we stand on
the discussions at Camp David and elsewhere.

Yesterday,
the Secretary had lunch with Chairman Arafat at her farm in
Virginia. They left in the late morning, spent about three
hours together including travel time, lunch and a walk.
They discussed a variety of issues, including the peace
process and benefits of peace for the region.

The
Secretary this morning took Prime Minister Barak to
Gettysburg. They toured the battlefield, spent a bit more
than two hours together, including travel time.

At Camp
David itself, negotiators held informal discussions
throughout the day on Saturday in keeping with the religious
obligations of the parties. Today, informal discussions and
small groups continue to meet to discuss the issues and
focus intensely on the issues that are at stake here.

We
expect the President to return in the early evening and
expect that the first thing he'll do is to meet with his
team to assess the status of the talks and to decide on the
next steps.

With that update, I'd be glad to take your
questions.

Question: Is there any sense, Richard, up
there of the - we're entering the thirteenth day, which is
the day on which the first Camp David summit ended. Do you
get the feeling that they have a sense of this kind of
moment that they're hitting now?

Mr. Boucher: I think
people are aware that the previous Camp David summit went
for thirteen days, but that doesn't mean that suddenly
becomes a time table for this one.

Question: I know that,
but is there a way--

Mr. Boucher: Let me just try to
answer. People are aware of it, but we're not running on a
22-year-old schedule; we're running on whatever schedule we
can make out of the talks now and how we can progress on the
issues. So, I think the immediate schedule is to anticipate
the President's return, to continue the intensive
discussions in small groups, and then to be ready to report
to the President on the status when he gets back. I don't
think even in the original Camp David talks, the number
thirteen was special in any way; it just happened to finish
on the thirteenth day.

Question: Prime Minister Barak's
spokesman has said that he thinks it will be evident in the
very near hours after the President's arrival whether things
are going to go forward or whether there is going to be a
breakdown. Does the US side have the same feeling, that
it's now or never?

Mr. Boucher: I think especially after
the experience last--when was it, Thursday night or
Wednesday night, one hesitates to make any kind of
predictions. I think the initial assessment by the
President will be very important in deciding how we move
forward and then whatever discussions are necessary after
that with the parties to see how we can take the process
forward from where we brought it in his absence.

Question:
Richard, there is no time limit at this point at all, as far
as the United States?

Mr. Boucher: There is no specific
time limit I can give you. Clearly, the President's
schedule has events on it next week. We are not here for an
unlimited period of time. But at the same time, until the
President gets back and we start looking at the situation,
the status of the issues, it will be hard to decide on next
steps and how long those will take to play out.

Question:
Richard, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem has issued a fatwa
prohibiting Palestinian refugees from accepting any
compensation in exchange for giving up their right of
return. Do you have any comment on that?

Mr. Boucher:
No, I don't. I hadn't seen the particular statement and we
haven't tried to comment on all the different views that are
out there; we know there are a variety of views.

Question:
You said that the Secretary took both Arafat and Barak
separately out of Camp David. Is that actually the first
and only time that the two leaders went out of the camp
since the beginning of the talks? This is the first time
that you are telling us something like that. And what was
the reason? A change in atmosphere? Were they only with
them--did they have aides with them or only Albright/Barak,
Albright/Arafat?

Mr. Boucher: It was the first time that
either leader had left since the beginning of the talks.
They brought one or two aides with them each time, but the
main reason was to spend some time with them talking, and to
use the opportunity of an extended discussion to get out of
Camp David and go see that there's a world out
here.

Question: Richard, can you at all characterize
these informal talks that have gone on since the President's
departure?

Mr. Boucher: Well, I think I've tried to
explain that there are fairly intense and focused
discussions going on on the issues involved in permanent
status on the core issues, that the negotiators and the
teams have been working very hard on these issues and have
tried to move forward in the President's absence, so that we
can report to him the status this evening.

Question: May
I just ask you about Madeleine Albright's schedule? Is it
true she's scheduled to travel to Bangkok to meet with the
North Koreans on Wednesday?

Mr. Boucher: We haven't
announced anything and I don't have anything to announce for
you now.

Question: There is nothing--

Mr. Boucher: We
haven't announced anything and I don't have anything to
announce for you now.

Question: There were reports that
Arab leaders have been putting pressure on or they have made
public statements about how Mr. Arafat could not make any
concessions on East Jerusalem. Is that helpful?

Mr.
Boucher: I'm not--again, you know, with the other
statements that have been quoted - I'm not going to try to
respond to every statement out there. There are a lot of
different views. There are a variety of views out there
that I'm sure the leaders are quite aware of. But the
importance of reaching an agreement, I think, is quite clear
to all. And in the discussions that we've had over the past
several months, I think there was quite a lot of support for
the idea of trying to reach agreement on these core issues
and solve this problem.

Question: Can you say any more
about when the President will arrive and what exactly will
be his program then? You say he is going to meet with his
team. Does he expect to go meet with the principals this
evening as well?

Mr. Boucher: I wouldn't be surprised to
see that, but there is no laid out schedule yet. The only
expectation is he will be back here in the early evening and
he will begin by meeting with his team.

Question: Are the
North Koreans getting somewhat ahead of themselves then in
announcing this meeting already as the deadline?

Mr.
Boucher: We don't have anything to announce on the
Secretary's meetings at this stage and I think the
experience the other night leads us not to announce things
until after they happen.

Question: Does the US Government
believe that the issue, the fate of Jerusalem is an
exclusively Israeli-Palestinian issue?

Mr. Boucher: That
sounds like a loaded question. The negotiations here on the
permanent status issues involve the Israelis and
Palestinians with us as a facilitator. Certainly, we are
quite aware of Jerusalem's importance to many others,
especially its special status as an important holy place for
three great faiths. Those concerns are very much in mind as
we go forward and try to facilitate an
agreement.

Question: The Secretary of State, did she make
any phone calls over the weekend to any Arab leaders? Do
you know?

Mr. Boucher: I'm just trying to deal with the
weekend. Not in the last 24 hours or so. Not Saturday or
Sunday that I know of.

Question: Do you plan to brief
again after the President's arrival tonight? And, if you
are, can you give the hours maybe for it? Do you have
anything--

Mr. Boucher: I think what we'll try to do
today is do another briefing here as normal about five
o'clock* and then let Joe Lockhart do either a pool report
or call in or some way of updating you in the
evening.

Question: Two of the negotiators, one Israeli
and one Palestinian, have commented on the status of
Jerusalem. And the other one accused the Palestinians of
losing a golden opportunity. Do you think those comments go
along with those negotiations and also go along with the
news blackout?

Mr. Boucher: I'm not aware that any of the
negotiators had commented. I guess the only thing I saw was
Abu Mazin had some fairly general comments when he was out
in the region. I'm not aware of anything else. So, I'm not
aware if the negotiators have been briefing on the events at
Camp David.

Question: Richard, the President spoke of
some headway being made--

Mr. Boucher: I don't want to
try to characterize our report to the President until the
President gets back and we have a chance to report to him.
I would say that we've been working very hard, the
negotiators and the delegations have been working very, very
hard on these issues and we will report to the President
when he gets back.

Question: Has some drafting begun
between negotiators on issues where progress and headway
have been made?

Mr. Boucher: I'm sorry, that's the kind
of detail of what's going on at Camp David that we haven't
discussed. I'm sorry.

Question: Richard, Abu Mazin also
said that either a full agreement--no partial agreement,
full agreement only. Abu Mazin said that.

Mr. Boucher:
I'm not going to characterize the views of others. But as
we've always said, we're trying to reach an agreement that
deals with the core issues of permanent status.

Question:
Can you characterize or can you give us some description of
yesterday? Last week at the Sabbath dinner, the Prime
Minister invited everyone and I believe everyone attended,
or at least people from both delegations. What was
yesterday like? Was it tenser? Were people more relaxed?
Have they caught up on their sleep a bit? Are they ready to
go 24 hours a day again?

Mr. Boucher: I suppose, in view
of the fact the schedule has shifted a little back to the
daytime after the events of--I can't even remember if it was
Thursday night or Wednesday night--late Thursday night, the
schedule has shifted back to the day. Most of the
discussions and meetings have been held during the daytime,
the afternoon and into the evening. So it hasn't gone quite
so late at night, although I know several delegations have
held discussions among their own delegation until quite late
at night.

So, I think people probably are caught up on
their sleep a little bit. But I would characterize the
discussion as serious, as determined, as intense and focused
and people have been working very hard.

Question: What
about the Sabbath dinner?

Mr. Boucher: The Sabbath dinner
Friday night was hosted by the Israelis. I think it was
open to all. I don't think--I think the Secretary was the
only leader of delegation that was there, so it was
delegation members from different parts. The ceremonial
part, the prayers conducted by the Israeli side and some
people, I think most of the Palestinians, drifted in after
the dinner actually began.

Question: What about
Arafat?

Mr. Boucher: No. But the delegations' members
and negotiators have been together for many--on many
occasions over the weekend and spending a lot of time
together both in discussions and at meals.

Question:
Richard, was there any significance to the fact that the
Secretary took Arafat to her farm and Barak to Gettysburg,
or is it simply that Barak has already been to her farm
during the Shepardstown--

Mr. Boucher: I think it was a
bit of variety for the Secretary and for the leaders
involved.

Question: Richard, since President Clinton
left, Barak and Arafat have been together how many times?
Once?

Mr. Boucher: They were together at dinner on
Thursday. I'm getting my days wrong. The Secretary hosted
a dinner where all three of them were together and I'm not
aware they've had any other meeting since then. But
obviously they're both very engaged with their negotiators
and over the past few days the focus has been on the
negotiators.

Question: Is it correct to say that the
negotiators are in the process of constructing a document
which they will use to present to the President to say where
you're up to and how far are you in that process?

Mr.
Boucher: That's not the kind of question, the details of
what's going on up there, that I can answer because you try
out all the different possibilities and be left with the
facts.

Question: Will there be any photo releases from
Camp David today?

Mr. Boucher: I expect there will be.
We have photos of Chairman Arafat's visit to the farm. We
have photos of this morning's excursion to Gettysburg and
we'll try to get those out to you as soon as
possible.

Question: What about photos of the
basketball--

Mr. Boucher: No, we didn't get any photos of
basketball. The basketball game was kind of a bust. It was
a very low turnout, but for a very good reason, that the
delegations and negotiators were still meeting and having
discussions at the time of the basketball game. So, it
turned into a very small thing between negotiators and
Marines.

Question: Following up on the question of the
draft, are you going to use the same team who is at Camp
David?

Mr. Boucher: To follow up on my answer to the
draft, I have nothing to add to what I haven't said in the
past on the subject.

Question: Do you have any comment on
what Hillary Clinton said in Roosevelt's Jewish synagogue on
Long Island about accusing the Palestinians that they are
preventing negotiating a peace agreement?

Mr. Boucher:
I'm not aware of anything. I just don't know what the quote
is and I'm not commenting on quotes.

Question: And,
Richard, the level of how you're communicating and updating
the Europeans, how does the President or the Secretary of
State update--what sort of update has been made to the
European Union on the peace talks, since they're going to be
the biggest donors and are the biggest donors to the
Palestinians?

Mr. Boucher: Well, I would refer you to the
G-8 communiqué in Okinawa. The President obviously had some
discussion with leaders in Okinawa. The Europeans were
there. And I think they expressed their general support, in
terms of future international assistance as necessary for
any agreement that's reached.

Question: But
the--(inaudible)--is here. Does the Secretary of State
phone him and say, look, you know, hang in here, we may need
you for this or for that--(inaudible).

Mr. Boucher: I'm
not aware of any phone calls like that. I don't think she's
made any phone calls like that.

Question: Any movement on
the Syrian-Israeli track now that the news the president of
Syria is in office?

Mr. Boucher: Well, there is fairly
intense focus right now on the Israeli-Palestinian track, so
that's not a major topic of discussion or movement at this
point. As you know, we've said the door is open. We want
to take up the commitment to peace that has been made by
Bashar Al-Asad at the appropriate time. But right now,
we're really very much focused on the Israeli-Palestinian
track.

Question: Can the issue of Jerusalem be set aside
and there still be an agreement? Or does it have to be part
of it?

Question: There were some reports yesterday that said
that Israel has suggested a proposal of releasing Jonathan
Pollard and Azzem Azzem, you know, as a part of the peace
deal. Can you, like, say anything about it?

Mr. Boucher:
That is another question about what might or might not be
discussed up there and I really can't get into
it.

Question: Without asking you to go into any
details--(inaudible)--is saying today that the two leaders
are on the verge of an agreement on Jerusalem. Is that a
fair way of describing it?

Mr. Boucher: I didn't use that
phrase. It's very hard, it continues to be very hard. We
all know how difficult the issues are. We continue to try
to move forward with very intense focus on these issues, but
I'm not here to lay claim to any such progress.

Question:
Two questions please. Do you know if there is
no--(inaudible)--in the area and every time--(inaudible)--we
heard about very extreme speech from them against Arafat and
against Barak. Did you notice--(inaudible)--

Mr. Boucher:
I think the views of many in the region are well known and
quite clear. We've seen a lot of expression of those views
as the talks have gone on. But the focus here is using the
Israeli--working with the Israeli and Palestinian
representatives to try to reach agreement. Ultimately, we
all know those agreements will be tested in public opinion
in the Arab world and in Israel.

Question: There is no
limiting? No limiting?

Mr. Boucher: It's not unlimited
for the amount of time we'll spend here and it will be up to
the President to decide what his next efforts, what his next
steps will be and how long he wants to carry this
forward.

Question: My second question. My second
question. Does Mrs. Hillary Clinton know what is happening
in Camp David?

Mr. Boucher: I don't know for sure. I'm
not aware that she's getting any formal updates. But
obviously she talks to people, to someone that I haven't
been able to ask about this, what he's told her.

Question:
Would you elaborate on what you said, agreements will be
tested in the Arab world? Could you elaborate on
that?

Mr. Boucher: Not a whole lot. I mean, I think
people are quite aware that there are different views in the
region on what needs to be done and people are aware that
public opinion, opinion of leaderships, support of other
governments is needed in order to carry forward on an
agreement. I think they are all looking to get a good
agreement, one that can stand the test of time.

Question:
This peace process started sponsored by the US and Russia
and now we're finding that the Russian role is diminishing.
Is that a request from the negotiators or upon US?

Mr.
Boucher: I think if you look at the briefings that have
been done in Okinawa, you'll see that the President did
discuss the Middle East Peace Process with President Putin
when he met him the other day. So, certainly we're in touch
with the Russians, we do remember that they were co-sponsors
of Madrid. But we're here now in a specific setting with a
specific idea in mind, to try to reach an agreement between
Israelis and Palestinians with the United States
facilitating that process. That seemed to us the best way
to move forward at this moment.

Question: What can happen
now that didn't happen last Wednesday?

Mr. Boucher: Well,
I think there are a whole variety of things that could
happen now that didn't happen last Wednesday, one of which
is we might reach a deal and the other of which is we might
not, definitively.

Question: Did the Palestinians give
their response? The Israelis are waiting for the response
about the government in Jerusalem. Or have you accepted any
kind of a response from the Palestinians?

Mr. Boucher:
Okay, maybe after we ask more or less the same question
three times and I give more or less the same answer, that
I'm not going to get into the substance, we ought to call it
quits and say goodbye.

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